Open top railway freight car having bulb angle element along top edge of sidewalls

ABSTRACT

An open top railway freight car having a bulb angle element joined by welding or riveting along the top edge of each of its sidewalls, each element being so designed as to concentrate onehalf the resultant vertical loads of a shakeout machine resting thereon in direct vertical alignment with each sidewall thereby substantially avoiding a weakening of the joint between each element and the car sidewalls during a shakeout operation. Such a design of each element includes a built-up portion extending upwardly and inwardly along the corner thereof, the inwardly extending built-up portion also serving to space the inner leg of the foot members of the shakeout machine away from the riveted joint between the bulb angle elements and the car sidewalls during the shakeout operation.

United States Patent Larsen 1111 3,833,135 Sept. 3, 1974 PrimaryExaminerM. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant ExaminerRichard A. Bertsch Attorney, Agent, or FirmWatson,Cole, Grindle & Watson [75] Inventor: Glen D. Larsen, Upper Marlboro,

Md. [57] ABSTRACT [73] Assrgnee: Southern Railway Company,

Washington DC An open top railway freight car having a bulb angleelement joined by welding or riveting along the top Flledi y 2, 1973edge of each of its sidewalls, each element being so [21] Appl. No:356,500 designed as to concentrate one-half the resultant vertical loadsof a shakeout machine resting thereon in direct vertical alignment witheach sidewall thereby sub- U-S- 1 avoiding a weakening of the jointbetween Int. Cl. t u each element and the car sidewalls during ashakeout 0f Search operation Such a design of each element includes a105/410 built-up portion extending upwardly and inwardly along thecorner thereof, the inwardly extending built- [56] References Cited upportion also serving to space the inner leg of the UNITED STATES PATENTSfoot members of the shakeout machine away from the 2,471,849 5/1949Wallace 214/833 riveted joint between the bulb angle elements and the3,376,063 4/1968 Hulverson 105/409 r sidewalls ring h shakeout p r i3,521,573 7/1970 Johansson 105/409 2 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures,/"-W--A-- V" PATENTEH SEP 3 I974 smut:

OPEN TOP RAILWAY FREIGHT CAR HAVING BULB ANGLE ELEMENT ALONG TOP EDGE OFSIDEWALLS This invention relates generally to open top railway freightcars, and more particularly to a specific type bulb angle elementsecured along the top edge of each sidewall of the freight car.

Because the bulk material transported in open top railway freight hoppercars oftentimes becomes packed to such an extent as to impede freedischarge through the open hoppers, shakeout machines are used toexpedite unloading of the bulk materials therefrom by inducingcombinations of vertical, lateral or longitudinal vibrations to the car.Such shakeout machines ordinarily include spaced foot members restingalong the top chords or bulb angle elements of the car sidewalls so thatthe cars may be shaken clean during unloading without further attentionunder normal conditions, thus saving both time and labor. Various typesof shakeout machines are available and vary in weight, method ofapplication and vibratory intensity. During vibration of the machine,severe lateral and vertical forces are transmitted to the car sidewalls,thereby subjecting the upper chords or bulb angle elements to heavybending and vibration forces oftentimes causing the joints between thebulb angle elements and the sidewalls to severely deteriorate as well ascausing fatigue and ultimate cracking of the metal sheet sidewallsbetween the welds or rivets thereof.

One approach taken in avoiding metal fatigue of the hopper car sidewallsis disclosed in US. Pat. No. 2,694,498 issued to William F. Dietrichson.An impact device for hopper cars is made use of therein, such deviceextending along and secured to the top chords of the sidewalls with acushion member located therebeneath for cushioning the impacts made bythe vibration-agitation device. However, the joint between each topchord and car sidewall becomes severely weakened or even broken becauseof the repeated bending moments on the top chord produced by theagitating device. An earlier developed bulb angle element has attemptedto solve this problem by providing a continuous upward extension alongthe horizontal leg of the angle element near the corner portion thereoffor reducing the moment arm of resultant forces of the vibrator exertedabout the joint between the angle element and the sidewall. Accordingly,this joint has been shown to weaken to a lesser extent than beforeduring the vibration or shakeout operation. Nevertheless, theaforementioned problems still persist.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an opentop railway freight hopper car as having bulb angle elements joinedalong the upper edges of each sidewall thereof, each such angle elementbeing so designed as to concentrate one-half the resultant verticalloads of a shakeout machine in a substantially direct vertical alignmentwith each sidewall thereby substantially avoiding a weakening of thejoint between the angle elements and the car sidewalls during theshakeout operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a freight carwherein the bulb angle elements each include a built-up portionextending upwardly and inwardly along the corner thereof, the inwardlyextending built-up portion also serving to space the inner leg of eachfoot member of the shakeout machine away from the riveted connectionbetween the angle elements and the car sidewalls during the shakeoutoperation.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a freight carwherein both riveted and welded joints between the bulb angle elementsand the car sidewalls are less likely to become weakened during theshakeout operation.

Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention willbecome apparent from the following description of the invention whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view in cross-section showing an open toprailway freight hopper car with the bulb angle elements mounted in placeand a shakeout machine resting on the angle elements;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view showing a portion of the freight carsidewall and bulb angle element of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the bulb angle element and sidewallportion taken along the line 33 of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 showing another embodimentof the invention wherein the bulb angle element is riveted to thefreight car sidewall; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing a portion of the riveted jointof the FIG. 4 embodiment. Turning now to the drawings wherein likereference characters refer to like and corresponding parts throughoutthe several views, the open top railway freight hopper car is shown inFIG. 1 generally designated 10, a showing of many of the details thereofbeing omitted for the sake of clarity. The car includes standardsidewalls ll of metal plates mounted in any conventional manner withside stake members 12 secured in place as by rivets 13 (see FIG. 2). Anupper portion of each vertical stake member 12 is reversely bent as at14 to accommodate a bulb angle element 15 shown in detail in FIG. 3.Each such element for each sidewall includes a horizontal leg 16 and avertical leg 17 depending therefrom.- Leg 16 has an outwardly anddownwardly extending bulbed flange 18 which is standard for providingadditional strength for the angle element. A built-up portion 19 of thesame material as the remainder of the bulb angle element is provided foreach such element along the corner thereof, i.e., at the intersection ofthe vertical and horizontal legs. This built-up portion extends bothupwardly from the top surface of horizontal leg 16 as well as inwardlyof the inner surface of vertical leg 17. The thickness of the upwardlyextending built-up portion 19 from .the top surface of leg 16 to the topsurface 21 thereof is substantially equal to the thickness of leg 16.Also, the thickness of the inwardly extending built-up portion 19 fromthe inner surface of vertical leg 17 to the inner surface 22 thereof issubstantially equal to the thickness of leg 17. The dimensions of theangle element are such that undersurface 23 of the inwardly extendingbuilt-up portion lies in the same plane as the undersurface ofhorizontal leg 16. Moreover, approximately half the upwardly extendingbuilt-up portion lies on each side of a centerline 24 thereby forming aT-section as defined by surfaces 21 and 22, imaginary line 25 and leg17.

A shakeout machine generally designated 26 has a motor 27 operativelyconnected to frame 28 thereof for vibrating the frame and each of thespaced foot members 29 interconnected with the frame as at 31. Each footmember 29 has inner and outer depending flanges 32 and 33 respectivelylying inwardly and outwardly of each of the bulb angle elements. Aportion of a foot member is shown in phantom in FIGS. 3 and 4 for thesake of clarity, each foot member resting on top surface 21 of built-upportion 19.

In the FIG. 3 embodiment, the lower end of each vertical member 17 ofeach bulb angle element is joined along the upper edge of its respectivesidewall 11 as by means of a continuous weld 34 (see also FIG. 2). Inthe FIGS. 4 and embodiment, on the other hand, the lower end of eachvertical leg 17 is joined along its respective sidewall 11 by means of ariveted connection. Such a connection includes the use of a continuousgusset plate 35 continuously riveted as at 36 and 37 respectively to leg17 and sidewall 11.

The specific design of each bulb angle element permits one-half theresultant static and dynamic vertical loads produced by the shakeoutmachine during its operation to be concentrated in a substantiallydirect vertical alignment with each sidewall 11 along respectivecenterlines 24 so as to cause these loads to be transmittedsubstantially evenly to the upper ends of the sidewalls. Accordingly,the continuous weld 34 is not subjected to those bending movements asbefore since the moment arm of these loads or forces during the shakeoutoperation is substantially reduced to zero. Any weakening ordeterioration of weld 34 is thereby substantially minimized.

The same result is effected for the FIGS. 4 and 5 embodiments, i.e.,direct transmission of all the loads during the shakeout operationevenly to the upper end of each sidewall thereby substantially avoidingany bending of gusset plates 35. Accordingly, any weakening ordeterioration of the joint along riveting 36 and 37 is substantiallyminimized. Moreover, the built-up portion which extends inwardly andterminates at inner surface 22 also serves to maintain inner leg 32 ofeach foot member spaced apart from vertical legs 17 during the shakeoutoperation so that any contact between legs 32 and riveting 36 issubstantially avoided.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that a quite simple approach has beentaken in substantially reducing to zero those loads from a shakeoutmachine during its operation so as to concentrate one-half the resultantloads directly in alignment with the freight car sidewalls to therebyevenly distribute the load along the upper edges of the sidewalls.Deterioration of the joints between the bulb angle elements and thesidewalls is therefore minimized with the use of an inexpensive andhighly effective design for the bulb angle elements.

Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present inventionare possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to beunderstood that within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. An open top railway freight hopper car having spaced sidewalls, anelongated bulb angle element joined along the upper edge of each saidsidewall, each said element comprising a vertical leg and a horizontaloutwardly extending leg integrally interconnected therewith forming acorner, said vertical leg being continuously joined along its free endto each said upper edge of said sidewalls, and said bulb angle elementhaving a built-up integral portion extending upwardly and inwardly alongsaid corner, said portion serving to concentrate one-half the resultantstatic and dynamic vertical loads of a shakeout machine in directvertical alignment with each said sidewall substantially along thevertical centerline of said vertical leg, which shakeout machine spansthe freight car between said sidewalls and rests by means of its spacedfoot members directly on the top surface of said upwardly extendingportion, whereby any weakening of the joints between said upper edges ofsaid sidewalls and said free ends of said vertical legs is substantiallyavoided.

2. The freight car according to claim 1 wherein said vertical leg ofeach said bulb angle element is joined along its free end to each saidupper edge of said sidewalls by means of a gusset plate continuouslyriveted to both said vertical legs and said sidewalls respectively, saidinwardly extending built-up portions serving also to maintain the innerlegs of the foot members of the shakeout machine spaced apart from saidvertical members during operation of the machine, thereby substantiallyavoiding contact between the inner legs and the riveted joints betweensaid bulb angle elements and said sidewalls.

1. An open top railway freight hopper car having spaced sidewalls, anelongated bulb angle element joined along the upper edge of each saidsidewall, each said element comprising a vertical leg and a horizontaloutwardly extending leg integrally interconnected therewith forming acorner, said vertical leg being continuously joined along its free endto each said upper edge of said sidewalls, and said bulb angle elementhaving a built-up integral portion extending upwardly and inwardly alongsaid corner, said portion serving to concentrate one-half the resultantstatic and dynamic vertical loads of a shakeout machine in directvertical alignment with each said sidewall substantially along thevertical centerline of said vertical leg, which shakeout machine spansthe freight car between said sidewalls and rests by means of its spacedfoot members directly on the top surface of said upwardly extendingportion, whereby any weakening of the joints between said upper edges ofsaid sidewalLs and said free ends of said vertical legs is substantiallyavoided.
 2. The freight car according to claim 1 wherein said verticalleg of each said bulb angle element is joined along its free end to eachsaid upper edge of said sidewalls by means of a gusset platecontinuously riveted to both said vertical legs and said sidewallsrespectively, said inwardly extending built-up portions serving also tomaintain the inner legs of the foot members of the shakeout machinespaced apart from said vertical members during operation of the machine,thereby substantially avoiding contact between the inner legs and theriveted joints between said bulb angle elements and said sidewalls.